1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to data sharing between processor-based systems. More particularly, it relates to systems and methods for opportunistically populating and updating pictures or other information in the various data fields of a Personal Information Manager program or other programs in which structured data is replicated across multiple nodes.
2. Description of the Related Art
One of the most common applications for personal computers is the storage and management of personal information, one example of which is contact information—a person's name, title, telephone number(s), location, e-mail address, picture, avitar and the like. Similar information may be stored and retrieved for business entities and other organizations.
As the size, cost and power requirements of microprocessors and data storage devices have decreased, applications for personal information management have moved to other processor-based systems such as Personal Digital Assistants (PDA's), Smart Phones, electronic address books and the like.
A personal information manager (PIM) is a type of application software that functions as a personal organizer. As an information management tool, a PIM's purpose is to facilitate the recording, tracking, and management of certain types of “personal information”. Personal information can include any of the following: personal notes/journal entries; address books; lists (including task lists); significant calendar dates (e.g., birthdays, anniversaries and appointments), e-mail and/or instant message archives, fax communications, voice-mail and project management features.
One method of the prior art for exchanging contact information is the so-called vCard. vCard is a file format standard for personal data interchange, specifically electronic business cards. vCards are often attached to e-mail messages, but can be exchanged in other ways, such as on the World Wide Web. They can contain name and address information, phone numbers, URLs, logos, photographs, and even audio clips. However, because of the relatively large size of the files required, photographs, other images or avitars are typically omitted from conventional methods of contact information exchange.
The vCard or Versitcard was originally proposed in 1995 by the Versit consortium, which consisted of Apple Computer, AT&T (later Lucent), IBM and Siemens. In December 1996 ownership of the format was transferred to the Internet Mail Consortium, a trade association for companies with an interest in Internet e-mail.
Version 2.1 of the vCard standard is widely supported by e-mail clients. Version 3.0 of the vCard format is an Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) standards-track proposal contained in REC 2425 and RFC 2426. The commonly-used filename extension for vCards is .vcf.
Some PIM software products of the prior art are capable of synchronizing data with another PIM over a computer network (including mobile ad-hoc networks). This feature usually does not allow for continuous, concurrent data updates, but rather enables point-in-time updating between different computers, including desktop computers, laptop computers, and personal digital assistants.
Many methods exist for communicating via a data network. Instant messaging and e-mail are among the methods most commonly used by individuals. E-mail (electronic mail) is a store-and-forward method of composing, sending, storing, and receiving messages over electronic communication systems. E-mail may refer to both the Internet e-mail system based on the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) and to intranet systems that allow users within one organization to e-mail each other. E-mail messages are generally sent to an e-mail server that stores received messages in the recipient's e-mail mailbox. The user subsequently retrieves these messages with either a web browser or an e-mail client that uses one of a number of e-mail retrieval protocols. While some clients and servers preferentially use vendor-specific, typically proprietary protocols, most support the Internet standard protocols SMTP for sending e-mail and POP3 and IMAP4 for retrieving e-mail, allowing interoperability with other servers and clients. The Internet Message Access Protocol (commonly known as IMAP or IMAP4, and previously called Internet Mail Access Protocol, Interactive Mail Access Protocol, or Interim Mail Access Protocol) is an application layer Internet protocol that allows a local client to access e-mail on a remote server. IMAP4 and POP3 (Post Office Protocol version 3) are perhaps the two most prevalent Internet standard protocols for e-mail retrieval. E-mail clients can generally be configured to use either POP3 or IMAP4 to retrieve e-mail and in both cases use SMTP for sending. Many e-mail clients and servers support both protocols.
An e-mail message header consists of fields, usually including at least the following: 1) From: The e-mail address, and optionally the name of the sender; 2) To: The e-mail address[es], and optionally name[s] of the message's recipient[s]; 3) Subject: A brief summary of the contents of the message; and, 4) Date: The local time and date when the message was written.
Each header field has a name and a value. RFC 2822 (a formalized memorandum addressing Internet standards) specifies the precise syntax. Informally, the field name starts in the first character of a line, followed by a followed by the value, which is continued on non-null subsequent lines that have a space or tab as their first character. Field names and values are generally restricted to 7-bit ASCII characters. Non-ASCII values may be represented using Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) encoded words.
The “To” field in the header is not necessarily related to the addresses to which the message is delivered. The actual delivery list may be supplied in the SMTP protocol (thus, not extracted from the header content). The “To” field is similar to the greeting at the top of a conventional letter which is delivered according to the address on the outer envelope. Likewise, the “From” field does not have to be the real sender of the e-mail message.
Other common header fields include: “Cc:” (carbon copy); “Bee:” (Blind Carbon Copy); “Received:” (Tracking information generated by mail servers that have previously handled a message); “Content-Type:” (Information about how the message has to be displayed, usually a MIME type); “Reply-To:” (Address that should be used to reply to the sender); “References:” (Message-ID of the message that this is a reply to, and the message-id of this message, etc.); “In-Reply-To:” (Message-ID of the message that this is a reply to); and, “X-Face:” (Small icon.). For further reference, the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) maintains a list of standard header fields.
Instant messaging requires the use of a client program that hooks up an instant messaging service and differs from e-mail in that conversations are then able to happen in real-time or near real-time (whole lines of text being transmitted and displayed rather than letter-by-letter communication). There are many disparate protocols for instant messaging. However, this situation is typically dealt with by combining protocols inside the IM client application or inside the IM server application.
One, increasingly-popular object for storage and management with a PIM application is a picture (image) of an individual whose other personal information is stored. However, in practice, this piece of information is often missing. Also, the structured data a user has stored on a given system may be out-of-date even for those persons with whom the user frequently communicates. What is needed is an automatic or semi-automatic means for obtaining missing information and for updating previously-stored structured data using e-mail or other commonly-used messaging systems.